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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29898702">Trouble Maker</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/imbadatlove/pseuds/imbadatlove'>imbadatlove</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>One and the Same [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Little Nightmares (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Domestic, Dialogue Heavy, Drabble, Family, Gen, Protectiveness, School</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:20:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,030</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29898702</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/imbadatlove/pseuds/imbadatlove</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>--</p><p>"Ah, Mister Thin Man, glad you could join us," She then gestures with her hand towards the larger chair situated next to Mono's, "Please, have a seat." </p><p>The Thin Man complies, looking Mono up and down for any injuries. When he can't find any, he faces The Teacher again, wasting no time with pleasantries, <b>"You said there was an incident we needed to speak about?"</b> </p><p>She's a bit taken aback by his tone, but she doesn't let it show, "Yes. Would you like to explain or should I, Mono?"</p><p>Mono sinks impossibly further into his chair, reluctant to look at either of them. </p><p>"I suppose I will, then." The Teacher clears her throat, "At recess, there was a dispute between Mono and a group of other students. I'm not sure what was exactly said or done to Mono, but he reacted in an extreme manner and such behaviour will not be tolerated at my school."</p><p>The Thin Man frowns, and in his peripheral vision, Mono tenses, <b>"Extreme, how?"</b></p><p>"He imprisoned three students inside the television in the homeroom."</p><p>--</p><p>Alternatively: Mono gets into trouble at school. The Teacher arranges a meeting with The Thin Man to discuss his behaviour.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mono &amp; The Teacher (Little Nightmares), Mono &amp; The Thin Man (Little Nightmares), The Bullies &amp; Mono (Little Nightmares)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>One and the Same [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177634</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>323</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Trouble Maker</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's one of those rare instances where the house is completely quiet, tranquil. There's no distant echo of reverberating static nor some object being knocked over and smashed onto the floor, no trace of a chaotic child zipping and zapping between walls and realities alike. It's a rare instance where The Thin Man can bask in complete and utter peace. He's in his study, sitting at his desk and signing papers, which are mostly bills, courtesy of The Pale City, or letters, delivered from The Maw, but this mundane activity does nothing to ruin the serenity around him. He picks up the cigarette in the ashtray next to him and takes a drag of it, indulging further in this short moment that has been blessed upon him. </p><p>The reason such peace has came about is because Mono is at school today. Don't get him wrong, he wouldn't change a thing about Mono, and their relationship is at the very top of what he values most in his life, but that child is a handful and a half, and he'll happily accept any offer to take a break from the constant mischievous antics and near heart attacks every ten seconds. If he's being entirely honest though, he would rather Mono had gone to any other school than the deplorable Pale City one. Mono had begged him for a chance to get an education and The Thin Man's answer had been a firm <em>'No,'</em> at first; no way was he going to allow those porcelain pests or that wretched hag with an unnervingly long neck to hurt Mono. But, Mono had been insistent upon it. He had explained that the school had improved drastically since The Signal Tower had released its tight grip on the city, and now more human children attended it, like his friend RK, and the teacher wasn't as scary as before. So he had reluctantly caved and allowed Mono to attend classes at The Pale City boarding school. At least Mono is performing well there, he supposes. His grades are good, he's well behaved--</p><p>The telephone rings. The Thin Man picks up the handset and presses it to his ear, <strong>"Yes?" </strong>He answers almost impatiently.</p><p>"Is this The Thin Man?" </p><p><strong>"Speaking," </strong>He taps his index finger against the desk. </p><p>"Hello, sorry to interrupt, this is Mono's teacher from Pale City boarding school," </p><p>The Thin Man tenses,<strong> "What seems to be the issue?" </strong></p><p>"There's been an incident at school today and Mono was involved. Is it possible for you to come into school? It's a rather urgent matter we need to discuss." </p><p>His worry is palpable, <strong>"Of course, I'll be there as soon as possible. Is he alright?" </strong></p><p>"Everything's fine for now, we'll talk more in person." With that, The Teacher hangs up. </p><p>The ambiguity of her answer has his emotions conflicting between concern and wanting to wreck total annihilation upon the poor soul who dared to touch Mono. In an instant, he's out of his chair and throwing his suit jacket on, not even bothering to tidy his desk before he's surging out the door and down the stairs. Once he steps outside and into the brisk air, he bows his head and warps directly to the front door of the school, the static around him forcing the door open with a little more force than necessary. The door flings outwards, causing a loud slam as it makes contact with the wall.</p><p>The hallway is littered with normal children and bullies alike, the latter causing havoc, per usual. As soon as they see The Thin Man approaching them however, they recoil and sprint away in such a hurry that they leave any of their belongings in their wake. He feels no guilt for their reaction, those little bastards <em>should </em>be terrified, and finds himself 'accidently' stepping on the bullies' toys and crushing them as he advances down the hallway. The real children watch him with fascination and aren't as afraid--they're probably Mono's friends, he recognises the girl with ginger pigtails and the boy with the lollipop--but he doesn't have time to greet them, striding towards The Teacher's office. </p><p>Once he reaches it, he knocks on the glass of the door. A moment later, there's a muffled: <em>"Come in,".</em></p><p>He opens the door. The Teacher is sitting at her desk, her hands interlocked and resting on it in front of her, unblinking eyes glued to Mono. Mono is sitting on a smaller chair in front of her desk, frowning at the floor. At the sound of his arrival, she looks up with an unsettling smile, "Ah, Mister Thin Man, glad you could join us," She then gestures with her hand towards the larger chair situated next to Mono's, "Please, have a seat." </p><p>The Thin Man complies, looking Mono up and down for any injuries. When he can't find any, he faces The Teacher again, wasting no time with pleasantries, <strong>"You said there was an incident we needed to speak about?" </strong></p><p>She's a bit taken aback by his tone, but she doesn't let it show, "Yes. Would you like to explain or should I, Mono?"</p><p>Mono sinks impossibly further into his chair, reluctant to look at either of them. </p><p>"I suppose I will, then." The Teacher clears her throat, "At recess, there was a dispute between Mono and a group of other students. I'm not sure what was exactly said or done to Mono, but he reacted in an extreme manner and such behaviour will not be tolerated at my school."</p><p>The Thin Man frowns, and in his peripheral vision, Mono tenses, <strong>"Extreme, how?" </strong></p><p>"He imprisoned three students inside the television in the homeroom." </p><p>The Thin Man can't help but sigh exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose. </p><p>The Teacher continues, "When we were finally able to get them out of the television, the three of them were in shock and had to be sent to the hospital. We haven't heard anything from The Doctor regarding their recovery yet." </p><p>Mono's silence is not helping their case. The Thin Man purses his lips and realises something's not right about this entire thing. Mono is a good student--yes, he also possesses the power of the Transmission, but the extent of what The Thin Man has taught him is teleportation, and even if he had taught Mono about the television realm, it wouldn't be with bad intentions in mind, like imprisonment. Which means for Mono to react in such a hostile fashion, he had to have felt threatened.  </p><p>The Teacher bangs a stack of paper against the desk then, smoothening out a pile of sheets. The sound rips The Thin Man from his thoughts, "Now, Mister Thin Man, this arises some concerns for me regarding Mono's home life." </p><p>Mono's head snaps up and The Thin Man blinks, offended. He schools this shock immediately, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair, his tone challenging, <strong>"Oh? Is that so?" </strong></p><p>The air hisses around her with the sudden mood change, a seething anger now emitting from The Thin Man. She must realise she's crossed a line, because not a moment later she's quickly backpedalling, stuttering, "Ah--I mean no disrespect, of course, Mister Thin Man." She takes a steady breath to calm herself, "What I meant to say, is that I am aware of the special...<em>abilities,</em> you and Mono share. My primary concern is that Mono could use these to attributes to do more harm than good--" </p><p>
  <strong>"Are you implying I would teach Mono to hurt people with his power?" </strong>
</p><p>"No, no!" The Teacher scrambles for words, The Thin Man can almost feel the fear radiating off of her. "But you must understand, with what happened today--"</p><p>The Thin Man sits closer to her, his dark shadow towering over The Teacher, <strong>"The way I see it? I think you're placing all of the blame onto Mono <em>because </em>he has these 'special abilities'. By doing this, you're ignoring one key factor in this entire incident; <em>why </em>Mono reacted in the way he did." </strong>The Thin Man faces Mono, who still looks shocked, and possibly upset, by The Teacher's previous implication. <strong>"So, Mono, what exactly did happen today?" </strong></p><p>"RK and I were playing in the hallway at recess, and then these three bullies came and started insulting us." Mono frowns at the memory, looking down at his palms, "Then they tried to drag RK away, and I was scared for him. I didn't want them to hurt him so I...did what I thought would stop them." He glances back up at The Teacher meekly, "I understand it was excessive, but I didn't want them to hurt my friend." </p><p>The Thin Man is satisfied with that explanation, The Teacher looks conflicted, <strong>"Now, let's get a few things cleared up. Do I condone Mono's actions? No, I do not, and I will do my best to curb this behaviour."</strong> Mono shrinks at the implications of that, The Thin Man's voice takes an icier edge to it, <strong>"Should Mono have came and told you, instead of handling the situation the way he did? Yes, but it is now evident that Mono's actions were in fact a <em>reaction</em> to the threat the bullies posed. Had the bullies not provoked Mono, or tried to attack RK, none of this ever would've happened. I understand you have to be concerned for the general populace of students, but what you <em>should </em>be devoting more time to is improving the bullies' behaviour. We both know this is not the first time they have tried to harm another student." </strong></p><p>The teacher sits rigid for a moment, then her posture relaxes, "Alright, I am willing to accept that Mono was reacting to what he perceived as a threat, and I hope you've learnt your lesson." The Teacher wags a finger at him, Mono nods, "However, this still doesn't change the fact that I now have three students in the hospital."</p><p><strong>"I assume it was their first experience inside the Transmission, which is why they went into a state of shock. Other than that, it's...<em>mostly</em> harmless, and I promise they will make a hasty recovery." </strong>The Thin Man flashes her a wry, intimidating smile, <strong>"If I'm being honest, they got off easy." </strong></p><p>He takes delight in the forced smile that the Teacher mimics, her laugh a mixture of fear and discomfort. "W-well, I'm glad we were able to sort this out! I also recommend that Mono takes the rest of the day off, so he can--recover from the incident." She rambles hurriedly. When The Thin Man looks at Mono, he looks fine, heck, he's <em>ecstatic</em> at such an offer to go home early. The Teacher however, despite the wobbly smile still plastered to her face, is shaking. She looks like the one who needs to go home and recover. </p><p>The Thin Man doesn't question it though, standing up from his chair. His height keeps her shrouded in that veil of darkness and the smile falters, <strong>"That's fine. Do you have everything, Mono?" </strong>Mono hefts his small bag up and onto his shoulder, rushing towards the door with a little too much eagerness for a boy who just got reprimanded by the head of the school--and <em>would </em>be getting reprimanded <em>again</em> when they get home. </p><p>The Thin Man is half way to the door when he pauses, eye twitching. He suddenly turns and places both palms on the teacher's desk, leaning down towards her, voice a dark and threatening whisper: <strong>"If you <em>ever</em> imply again that Mono is some sort of evil child that takes pleasure in hurting other children, or that at home, I would--heaven forbid--<em>manipulate</em> him to endorse such behaviour, you and I will be having another meeting. On <em>my</em> terms. Do I make myself clear?" </strong></p><p>The Teacher nods so fast he swears he can hear her brain rattling with the movement. He straightens back up with a plastic smile tacked onto his face, adjusts the cufflinks of his suit. <strong>"Good. Let's go, Mono."</strong></p><p>Needless to say, The Thin Man never received another phone call about Mono's behaviour from The Teacher ever again. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>-PROTECTIVE THIN DAD ACTIVATE</p><p>-that's what you get for hurting my boy rk, ya wee bastards</p><p>-only the lady is allowed to question thin dad's parenting, anybody else who dares to will end up face down in an alleyway</p><p>-mono totally took pleasure in torturing those kids</p><p>-then again it would've been so much worse for them if thin dad found those bullies first</p></blockquote></div></div>
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